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SLEEPY EYE -- A 27-year-old Sleepy Eye child care provider was charged Dec. 14 with felony third-degree assault and two gross misdemeanor child endangerment counts regarding a seven-month old child who formerly attended her daycare.
A court appearance was set for 8:30 a.m., Jan. 4, 2022 for McKenzie M. Bode, 308 3rd Ave. N.E., Sleepy Eye.
According to court documents, the mother of a seven-month old boy who attended Bode's child care for three weeks, told Sleepy Eye Police Investigator Bohnen on Nov. 1, 2021 that she pulled the boy out of the daycare on Sept. 7, 2021.
The mother told Bohnen she removed her boy from Bode's child care because she was a alarmed about how Bode talked about the boy. She said the boy had a bruise on his temple and that Bode told her the boy was "fussy," so she put him in a bouncer or play center and he swung forward and hit another toy.
The child's mother said she photographed the bruise. Bohnen searched her cell phone and found searches stamped Aug. 31, 2021. Bohnen reviewed digital photos of the child, noting a bruise above his left eye and temple and a scratch the mother said Bode told her was caused by the boy scratching himself. She described the scratch as looking more like an open sore the day after she photographed it.
Bohnen emailed photos of the child's injuries to Dr. Mark Hudson of the Midwest Children's Resource Center (MCRC) on Nov. 1 and Nov. 3, 2021. Bohnen asked Hudson for an opinion on the matter.
Hudson reviewed the photos and felt the images were concerning. He recommended the mother bring the boy to the MCRC for a full skeletal survey and to talk with im or one of his partners about what happened.
Bohnen met with the child's mother at the Sleepy Eye Police Dept. She told him Dr. Karlyn Armbruster referred the boy to MCRC for a skeletal survey, as Hudson recommended.
On Nov. 8, 2021, Bohnen got an email from the MCRC with records relating to the child's Nov. 4, 2021 appointment at MCRC. The records were written by Dr. Ashley Cochran, Child Abuse Pediatrics Fellow and reviewed by Dr. Alice Swenson-Child Abuse Pediatrician.
According to Cochran, the mechanisms proposed for the injuries were not consistent with the developmental abilities of a then five- or six-month old child and are "highly concerning for inflicted injury."